@lumennox
She stares at herself in the mirror, hands smoothing the front of her robes as she notes with dismay the dark circles under her eyes and the fatigue that lines her face. No longer is she the young sorceress who would venture beyond the borders of Dalaran with dreams and aspirations in her heart to see a wide and wonderful world. Time has cast her as an effigy carved from marble and all she sees in her reflection are cold, hard eyes and lips that seem permanently fixed into a frown.
There’s no helping appearances now, she turns away from the mirror to reach for her staff. Her duties as Archmage has left little time for her to do little more than to dress before she’s swept away by matters that require her personal attention. Today, it is a missive that arrived on her desk that morning with alarming reports of increased magical activity within the site of Dalaran’s former location. That alone is reason enough to demand her personal attention and no one would dare question her if she happened to also have ulterior motives.
Bright lights coalesce around her into a teleportation spell, her private study suddenly dropping away until she abruptly lands in the grassy fields near Lordamere Lake. The serene vista that surrounds her is marred by the gaping, black scar that bores into the ground, lined with remnant arcane energies that glow violet in the afternoon day. She frowns as she steps forward, staff held at the ready, magical senses reaching out for the reported anomalies.
She senses it before she sees it, right there in the centre of the crater, a maelstrom of black energy at the very convergence of the ley lines that pulse through the world. A spell, almost like a portal, but to where ------ ? She glimpses black tides and a low hanging moon until a ripple through those dark waters shatters the image. From the epicentre a black hand bursts through the surface, fingers tapering into deadly talons. She takes a step back as a creature writhes through portal, body twisting at unnatural angles.
Immediately, fire ignites between her fingers, until more movement from the portal grabs her attention. Another creature begins to struggle into the world, followed by another and another until dozens are crawling through, pouring from the portal like black ants made of slick oil scrabbling against the rocky surface of the crater.